Narrator pow:
"I cheer up for you, love." Maken called on the phone as Andou and her makeshift team made their way to the meeting zone, where a trio of judges was just disembarking from their jeep.
"Thanks. I'm gonna need it." Andou responded before the call ended and her tank stopped. "Eclair, Cayenne, go." She added as she opener the hatch and climbed out of her FCM 1A and made her way to the ground with her two commanders following swiftly.
"Right on time, as scheduled." Eclair smiled, stretching her arms while Cayenne only smiled, gently correcting her hair.
"Welcome to all of you." One of the judges, as petite blonde, said towards them. "Your opponents seem to just arrive." She added, turning her head to the other side as FT-17 led a horde of fourteen ARL 44's.
"I see..." Andou nodded, seeing Marie, Oshida and unknown to her tall girl with white hair approaching them.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here? Back with the poor where you belong?" Distinct tone of fairly confident Oshida came to their ears, making Andou sigh.
"Point five, subsection five from Sensha-do Competition Regulations." Andou said with fairly neutral tone, making the trio of referees look at eachother with mutual agreement painted on their faces.
"And I am afraid that breaks the rules of Sensha-do." The middle referee, mid-sized woman with peanut brown hair said, pointing one of her red flags straight at suprised Oshida. "You are commanded to leave the battlefield immidieately."
"You know, Oshida doesn't deserve to have a chance of competing against her." Maken said with a dry voice as he watched the pre-match briefing by the judges from the stands.
"Last time we faced such disrespect, Darjeeling rolled with me and Assam all over BC Freedom team in our Churchill." Orange Pekore added, shopping her tea on his side.
"First round of 63th National I presume?"
"Indeed, unmemoreful match if not for their unladylike comments..."
"This approach will be their downfall." Maken added, throwing some coins to the side and earning a 'Thank you' from elderly man below them. "Trust me on this one."
"I feel that I should, and I will."
"Alright then, plan is simple." Andou said on the radio as her team was on it's way to their starting position. "Colombia, Venezuela and Salvador go to marshes on our left to flank them. Martinique and Guadeloupe do the same with the farmlands on our right. My team goes with Nether Antilles onto the lone hill on our central half of the battlefield and defend on it. T-I-T and Cuba clans stay in tactical reserve on the middle. Any objections?"
"KW-85 is too slow to be used as an effective reserve tank!" Voice of Shimazu came out on the radio.
"That's why you are our flag tank today." Andou responded, proceeding to explain her school of thought. "All opposing tanks expect for their flag one can one-shot you at safe range. And I want to secure our group promotion today. Is it fine by you?"
"Fair enough, I manage."
"My question!" Castro spoke up on the radio. "I don't want to be unactive that much."
"Fine, take your personal tank and join the right flank as the rest of your group defends the flag tank."
"Roger!"
"Wow, you really have the reputation around here." Ella commented, rather suprised by the lack of issues so far.
"Good to see my hard work paying off." Tan-skinned girl snarled happly, looking throu her visor at the ring-shaoed starting ground. "Now let's see how much a group work will pay today."
"Impressive." Nobrega said, taking a seat right to Maken. "Your personal apprentice works quite well in commanding what she gets."
"Flexibility is a place where she outstands me by a huge margin." Caudillo commented, smiling lightly. "And I want this advantage of hers to be at maximum when she takes the lead."
"You are creative."
"But still, not flexible. Making up things and adapting to random changes is a different thing."
"... Oh, I see now."
"I knew you were a smart chap." Maken smiled, then sharing a tea with Pekore on his left.
"Anything spotted?" Andou asked on the radioline her unit taking the safe dafensive spot on their hill.
"Nothing on ours." Castro responded first. "But I see smoke on the further left."
"We also got nothing." Dolores added, smacking her lips before sighing deeply. "But I see widespread smoke on my right."
"They all went on the middle then!" Andou exclaimed, finding out the opponents movement. "Go further and then turn to be on their back. We will encircle and shoot them one by one!"
"Copy./Roger/Understood." Several responsed came to her ears, generally accepting the course of action.
"Andou, what will we do now?" Nene asked her, passing a shell on the Angela's request.
"We will hold on. They seem to have abandoned the old cooperation-based tactics in favor of tight heavy tank push." Andou smiled, taking her binoculars on hand and peeking out of the turret to look forward. "This match was sealed from the start, so no worries."
"That's odd." Maken commented, seeing an FT-17 with Marie sitting on it's back rushing throu the linear forest in space between Andou's left flank and center while fourteen ARL 44's went forward in two straight lines of seven tanks each like a steel wall of french late-war engineering. "Marie just rushed alone to infiltrate them?"
"Seems like the only thing she can do." Pekore respondes, patiently drinking her tea with near-natural elegance. "Her tank is the only one in her team mobile and small enough to do this task."
"Now she can freely attack and of four Andou's groups or just scout ahead." Nobrega added, rubbing his chin. "So she already spotted Andou's center."
"Right then." Maken added, seeing Rosehip and Assam walking towards them with some snacks and wide smiles on their faces. "But movement of Andou's flanks makes the benefit of that action a bit smaller, especially since the ground between Andou's center and the right flank is just mostly flat grassland..."
"Distance?" Andou asked, seeing with her binoculars s first row of BC Freedom tanks entered her visibility range.
"Four thousand meters!" Nene responded, making last adjustments to their 105mm gun.
"Open fire with HE shells! Hopefully we get their tracks messed up!"
"Got it!"
"Wings! Are you on right positions?" Andou asked on the radio, going back into the turret and closing the hatch above her.
"Left wing is ready!"
"Right wing on position!"
"Good, begin the attack on their backline!" Andou responded, feeling a strong shake between two explosive thuds nearby her.
"They sure miss a lot on this range." Ella commented with hopeful tone.
"Middle tank of their first row is out!" Angela added, moving their tank back up for better sightline.
"Commander! We are under attack!" A panicking voice of KW-85 came to their ears, followed up by a solid bang and small explosion. "The rodent is fast!"
"Cayenne, Eclair, go help the flag tank!" Andou ordered, quickly switching her orders for the two smaller tanks that assisted her.
"Understood!" The reply came from Eclair to her very quickly as two tanks moved backwards from the hill. "Hang in there, commander!"
"I will, especially with such a crew." Andou smiled, observing as Nene pressed the trigger and fired another shell towards their opponents.
"Hmm... Interesting." Maken hummed with serious tone, observing FT-17 with Marie on it's back running in circles around KW-85 and two T-34/85's, the third of the latter's lying upside down in a ditch. "ARL's were merely a distraction then. I hope she can handle it without my help."
"What do you mean by your help?" Pekore asked him, suprised by the additional comment.
"I could just text to her what I see from here, which includes opponents positions and their movements." Maken responded, taking out his phone and showing it to her. "Funny enough, Federation doesn't prohibit the use of them inside the tank."
"And yet, you don't?". She asked him, slowly realising his intended messeage to her.
"Exacly. She seems to have handled it" He added, just as AMC-34 rammed FT-17 from the side and AMX-40 fired at point-blank range in it's front, rendering it out of battle for good.
"Hell, yeah." Maken said, standing up and clapping his hands as the judges officially called the end of the match. "Only one ARL lost on this weird play, they really should have kept these Somuas in stock."
"Anti-poor sentiments led them only that far." Pekore added, checking her phone for informations. "It's just a shame that mine secondary team was defeated by Endless Hills..."
"No worries, you surely get the win with Viking in the third row." Maken cheered her up, walking up to her and gently holding her hand upon crouching.
"I haven't teached you about this. Did Andou taught you those manners?" Pekore asked him, slightly blushing.
"Yes, yes she did." Maken responded, slightly unsure. "And I don't regret it even for a bit."
"Only two of their tanks destroyed and that's it?" Andou asked herself out loud. "That was very fast."
"It's good, right?" Ella asked, her smiling from the deeper part of the tank. "At least we don't have to worry anymore."
"Heheh, I guess hard preparations payed off." Beatrice chuckled lightly .
"Or maybe fast, decisive finish is our style of Sensha-do." Angela added with reserve, driving their tank away from the battlefield.
"No, no, no. Let's not go wondering about everything at once." Andou stopped them, making an incursion into their talk. "How about we get home first, and then make some analysis?"
"Hmm... That makes three checks then." Maken spoke to himself, organising the information from today while reaching to Federation's official internet page in order to see the groups after the second round of group matches. "But enough about what follows, let's see what will be followed." He added as the group stage results were loaded with the full update after the second round.
Group A:
1. Oarai - 2 - 0 - 0 - 6p
2. Count - 0 - 2 - 0 - 2p
3. Olimp - 0 - 1 - 1 - 1p
4. Phi Royal - 0 - 1 - 1 - 1p
Group B:
1. Anzio - 2 - 0 - 0 - 6p
2. Adwa - 1 - 1 - 0 - 4p
3. Yogurt - 0 - 1 - 1 - 1p
4. St. Pharaoh - 0 - 0 - 2 - 0p
Group C:
1. Pravda - 2 - 0 - 0 - 6p
2. Karpatia - 1 - 0 - 1 - 3p
3. Da Gama - 0 - 1 - 1 - 1p
4. Viggen - 0 - 1 - 1 - 1p
Group D:
1. Bonple - 2 - 0 - 0 - 6p
2. Chi-Ha-Tan - 1 - 0 - 1- 3p
3. Maple - 1 - 0 - 1 - 3p
4. Gilbert - 0 - 0 - 2 - 0p
Group E:
1. Pannonia - 1 - 1 - 0 - 4p
2. Cyuuritsu - 1 - 1 - 0 - 4p
3. Koala - 0 - 2 - 0 - 2p
4. Tategoto - 0 - 0 - 2 - 0p
Group F:
1. Saunders - 2 - 0 - 0 - 6p
2. Blue Division - 1 - 1 - 0 - 4p
3. Tatenashi - 0 - 1 - 1 - 1p
4. West Kureouji Grona - 0 - 0 - 2 - 0p
Group G:
1. Sudamericana - 2 - 0 - 0 - 6p
2. Waffle - 1 - 0 - 1 - 3p
3. Jungle Tunnel - 1 - 0 - 1 - 3p
4. BC Freedom - 0 - 0 - 2 - 0p
Group H:
1. St. B-S-T - 2 - 0 - 0 - 6p
2. Gregor - 2 - 0 - 0 - 6p
3. Atlas - 0 - 0 - 2 - 0p
4. Bellwall - 0 - 0 - 2 - 0p
Group I:
1. Kuromorimine - 1- 1 - 0 - 4p
2. Kebab - 0 - 2 - 0 - 2p
3. St. Patrick Green - 0 - 2 - 0 - 2p
4. Three Rivers - 0 - 0 - 2- 0p
Group J:
1. Windmill - 1 - 0 - 1 - 3p
2. St. Archipelago - 1- 0 - 1 - 3p
3. Eastern Balkan - 1 - 0 - 1 - 3p
4. Hilled Gulf - 1 - 0 - 1 - 3p
Group K:
1. Jatkosota - 1 - 1 - 0 - 4p
2. Maginot - 0 - 2 - 0 - 2p
3. Skanderbeg - 0 - 2 - 0 - 2p
4. Strait Vikking - 0 - 1 - 1 - 1p
Group L:
1. Viking - 1 - 1 - 0 - 4p
2. Endless Hills - 1 - 1 - 0- 4p
3. St. Gloriana - 1 - 0 - 1 - 3p
4. Black Sandstorm - 0 - 0 - 2 - 0p
"Well, we are damned." Maken said to himself, looking at the group stages. "Our next opponent is Jungle Tunnel, so we can't hesitate if we want to win. Waffle won't just throw a match with falling team of BC Freedom. And neither will Jungle Tunnel with their promotion opportunity in arm's reach. We are so damned..."
Vineboom.mp3.* The ringtone on his smartphone went out, making him wake up from the grimm theories.
"Who dis?" Maken asked, answering the call and looking around the room with empty eyes."
"Hi, it's me, Jajka."
"Well, hi to you too. What's the ocassion?"
"Just saying sorry for what I did earlier in person. I'm not the same after I left Bonple..."
"And I have no right to blame ya' for it. In fact, I need a favor from you."
"Really?"
"Yes, I need you, and your whole clan, to lead us in a match against Jungle Tunnel. Can you do it?"
"Definitely. Thanks for the chance."
"And tanks to you for accepting"
"Hahah, yeah, I'll use them there."
"Neato." Maken smiled as Jajka ended the call. "Yeah, she really changes after leaving Bonple. Even that shitty joke as saying tanks instead of thanks are good for her..." He wondered, rolling his eyes left and right in a very slow motion. "On the other side... I am kind of changing too, now that I say them to begin with."